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AND SO...
... we arrive at the last napoleon.org bulletin for the summer. This letter is a bumper edition, packed full of material to read, listen to and watch, exhibition details, and websites to visit. Our objet d'art of the month is Napoleon's nécessaire dentaire, which can currently be seen on display in Monaco at the "Magnificence and Grandeur of the Royal Houses in Europe" exhibition. The nécessaire is just one of a number of items borrowed from the foundation's collection which have made the trip south to the Côte d'Azur for the duration of the exhibition. If literature of the Second Empire is more your thing, then you'll find details of the Les Misérables exhibition which has just opened in Waterloo, and which runs until September. Returning to the internet for a moment and you will find a series of magnificent photos of St Helena from the French photojournalist Thomas Goisque and an audio file of a talk from Mark Gerges on Napoleon and his achievements. Further along you will find a veritable abundance of reading material, all brought to you by the Fondation Napoléon. Scroll down for period brochures on Napoleon's coronation - hosted via our digital library -, our Summer Selection and Napoleonica. La Revue: plenty to keep you occupied whilst we're on our holidays. We round this letter off with an extended 200 and 150 years ago section. Don't forget that our library remains open throughout the summer period (eyes right for days and times) - feel free to pop in and catch up on your Napoleonic reading if you're in Paris - and the next edition of the letter will arrive in your inboxes on Friday 9 September, refreshed and brimming with Napoleonic news and information.
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OBJET D'ART OF THE MONTH
Napoleon I's nécessaire dentaire
Unusually for the period, Napoleon Bonaparte was very concerned with his own personal hygiene, and in particular oral health and teeth. He was reputed to have had very strong, white teeth. Each of the nécessaires produced by Biennais included at least one toothbrush. This luxurious edition holds a number of different instruments suited to the most delicate of dental hygiene tasks. This exceptional item, part of the Fondation Napoléon's magnificent collection, is on display at the "Magnificence and Grandeur of the Royal Houses in Europe" exhibition currently taking place in Monaco.
WHAT'S ON
"Magnificence and Grandeur of the Royal Houses in Europe", Monaco
At the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 10 July, 2011, the Princess of Hanover presided over the inauguration of the principality's summer exhibition, "Magnificence and Grandeur of the Royal Houses in Europe". The exhibition features nearly seven-hundred items loaned from private and national collections, including the Fondation Napoléon, which has contributed, amongst others, four plates from the "emperor's service particulier", a portrait vase, and a statuette of General Bonaparte on a dromedary.
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"Les Misérables, 150 ans à Waterloo", Waterloo, Belgium
On 30 June, 1861, at eight-thirty in the morning, Victor Hugo, residing at Waterloo's Hôtel des Colonnes since 15 May, scratched the word "fin" at the bottom of the last page of his manuscript for Les Misérables, a book that would immortalise his name in the literary world. Between 30 June and 30 September, 2011, the Musée Wellington will be holding an exhibition dedicated to exploring the history the book, its characters, its publication, and also the "Banquet des Misérables", a celebratory event held to mark the release of the book, of which a number of early photographs offer the visitor a tantalising glimpse at the literary world of the late 19th century.
For more Napoleonic literature, our section on napoleon.org has everything you could need, ranging from information on classic biographies on Napoleon Bonaparte by authors such as John Holland Rose and Laurent de l'Ardèche, to extracts from Second Empire society plays (Eugène Labiche's Le Voyage de Monsieur Perrichon) and even poetry, with features on William Wordsworth's ode to Andreas Hofer and the Reverend Charles Wolfe's moving tribute to Sir John Moore.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
Audio file of Mark Gerges talking about Napoleon
For those who missed Mark Gerges on Napoleon Bonaparte and his influence and accomplishments - or for those who simply want to listen to it again - archive.org now has an audio recording of the full talk (external link), which was given at the Central Library in Kansas City in April.
St Helena: a photo report
The French photographer Thomas Goisque recently completed a trip to the island of St Helena. His website (external link in French) carries his photo report of his time on the island, and features some magnificent shots of the isolated, rocky outcrop, the port of Jamestown, the island's inhabitants, and the interior of Longwood House, where Napoleon spent his last days.
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DIGITAL LIBRARY
The coronation from all angles
As announced last week, we have recently uploaded a treasure trove of Napoleonic period and historical pamphlets to our digital library portal. Napoleon I's coronation in 1804 was a pivotal event in the history of France, and this week we have a series of texts which take a look at the event from all angles. For an official rundown of the ceremonial route, we have Louis-Philippe Ségur's Ordre de la marche des cérémonies qui auront lieu le 11 frimaire. And for those curious as to how the coronation was celebrated further afield, we bring you M. Bovet's Notice sur les solennités célébrées à Strasbourg, and Capitaine-Général Ernouf's fascinating account of events that took place in Guadeloupe to mark the occasion. Finally, we have a record of the oratorio sung at the Protestant Temple of the Reformed Church, Saint-Louis-du-Louvre, in Paris.
And for those interested in the ceremonial procession held that cold day in December, take a look at our digital model video, produced by the Fondation Napoléon and Bath University, which can be found in our audio-visual section on napoleon.org.
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NAPOLEON.ORG
Summer Selection 2011
If this special letter hasn't given you enough to read and watch, then our Summer Selection 2011 - featuring publications on biographies, memoirs, and texts on the wider history period (including Italian unification and the American Civil War), as well as electronic resources - will provide you with everything you could need. And don't forget that every article on Napoleonica. La Revue, the Fondation Napoléon's historical review, is available free (both to read and download) via Cairn.info. Everything from the first issue, released in 2008, right up to the latest edition (and including the music special released in 2010), is freely consultable.
200 YEARS AGO
The Spanish campaign
On 24 July, French troops under Maréchal Suchet seized the Montserrat monastery - which had been converted into a mountain fort and housed a number of Spanish troops under the command of the Baron de Eroles - in Catalonia. The monastery was pillaged and raised to the ground by the French soldiers involved in the attack.
Elsewhere, between 11 August and 20 September, 1811, British forces blockaded Ciudad Rodrigo, but were forced to withdraw as French troops - numbering 58,000 - gathered under Marmont and Dorsenne and moved up from Salamanca to resupply the French garrison trapped within the city walls.
Russian affairs
The post-mass gathering on 15 August, 1811 was the scene for an extraordinary outburst from Napoleon, during which he accosted Kurakin, Russian ambassador in Paris, and offered to negotiate the Franco-Russian position there and then. Kurakin, dumbfounded, was obliged to inform the French emperor that he was not empowered to discuss such matters. On 16 August, 1811, the issue of conscription for an eventual campaign in Russian was discussed with Maret, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Public works in Rome
On 27 July, 1811, Napoleon set aside one million Francs for the beautification of Rome.
150 YEARS AGO
The price of communication
France's prefectural telegraph service was made available to the general public for private use on 27 February, 1861, and on 3 July, it was decided that a standard, fixed price would be implemented for the sending of any private messages within the French empire. Prior to this law, anomalies existed in the system which meant that a message sent from Paris to Toulon cost 9 Francs, 10 centimes, whilst the same message sent from the French capital to Turin only cost 7 Francs, 50 centimes. The price was initially set at 2 Francs for a standard dispatch to anywhere in the empire, with an additional tax of 1 Franc per additional ten words (or fraction thereof) for any message which exceeded the twenty word limit. Anyone sending an intra-departmental telegraph would pay 1 Franc, with a 0.50 centimes charge per additional ten words. A manual labourer in Paris in 1850 earned on average 3 Francs per day, with the price of a baguette set at about 10 centimes.
Build up to French intervention in Mexico
On 27 July, 1861, France and Great Britain broke off diplomatic relations with Mexico following the Mexican government's decision made on 17 July to suspend payment on its external debt.
French society: the fight for male-female equality
The 16 August, 1861 was a monumental date in the fight for sexual equality in France, with Julie-Victoire Daubié (1824-1874) becoming the first woman to receive her baccalauréat, which she received from the Académie de Lyon. Having applied to sit the exams on numerous previous occasions - having been rejected each time - she was finally allowed to do so in 1861, at the age of thirty-seven. Having passed the exams, intervention from the well-known industrialist and Saint-Simonian François Barthélemy Arlès-Dufour and the French empress Eugénie was required in order to obtain the signature of her certificate.
Parc Monceau inaugurated
Parc Monceau, today situated in Paris' 17th arrondissement, was inaugurated by Napoleon III on 13 August, 1861 after a seven-month design project led by Jean-Charles Alphand. That same day, in a ceremony beginning at 5pm, the French emperor also inaugurated Boulevard Malesherbes, which runs from Place de la Madeleine, in the 8th, all the way up to the edges of the 17th arrondissement. That evening, crowds gathered in the park and along the boulevard for a celebratory firework display.
Parc Monceau features as part of our Parks and gardens: Parisian strolls of the Second Empire tour, which takes you on a wander through the green spaces and gardens of the French capital. And for those of you off to the birth place of the first French emperor, we also have our Napoleon and Corsica tour: everything you need to explore the Bonaparte family's native land.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" break,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 593, 15 JULY – 8 SEPTEMBER, 2011
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© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.
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OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced an international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon.org.
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
MAGAZINE
Recently published
- Napoleonic Foot Soldiers and Civilians: a Brief History with Documents, by Rafe Blaufarb and Claudia Lebeskind
Seen on the web (external links)
- Mark Gerges on Napoleon (audio file)
- St Helena: a photo report
Press review
- The Independent: Napoleon's sister is the ideal face of female beauty
- History Today July 2011
EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Exhibitions
- "The Finishing Touch: Women's accessories, 1830-1940", Wirral, UK [27/05/2011 - 11/12/2011]
Full details
- "Magnificence and Grandeur of the Royal Houses in Europe", Monaco [11/07/2011 - 11/09/2011]
Full details
- "Les Misérables, 150 ans à Waterloo", Waterloo, Belgium [30/06/2011 - 30/09/2011]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE MARTIAL-LAPEYRE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Summer opening hours (5 July - 26 August inclusive)
Situated at 148 boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris, the library is open on Tuesday and Wednesday 1.30pm - 6pm, and Thursday 10am - 3pm.
The library will remain open throughout July and August, as per the above opening times.
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